Asian Motor Sports

(MEDIA RELEASE) Victory on debut for Image/Kitome Racing V8 Supercars Fujitsu Series - Rnd #2 Wakefield Park, NSW 28 May 2006

After the frustrations of practice and qualifying at Wakefield Park yesterday, Sunday’s racing again saw a mix of emotions for the Image/Kitome Racing team, with first disappointment, then elation as the team enjoyed victory in race two of three on debut, Terry Wyhoon leading the reverse grid heat from start to finish.

It was a cool, foggy start to the day, with extremely low visibility across the circuit. The run to the line for the first race bought out the safety car for Adelaide’s Jay Verdnik who was forced onto the wet grass and into the outside retaining bank, the foggy conditions
clearing slightly for the restart.

Pole-sitter Adam Macrow held on for victory despite mounting pressure from Dick Johnson Racing’s Luke Youlden, with Perkins Racing’s Shane Price and Jack Perkins third and fourth.

Sadly the Image/Kitome Racing duo were foiled by a recent change in operation by V8 Supercars Australia, the two drivers electing to run through the pits twice prior to the start, attracting a drive through penalty during the race.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Wyhoon said afterwards. “When I last raced in this category it was okay, but on reviewing the new regulations pre-event, we just missed this one completely. It’s no-one’s fault, but
it really annoyed me.”

Despite the setback, both cars finished on the lead lap, with pre-race changes providing all important data for the reverse grid second race.

“The car felt pretty ordinary,” Wyhoon commented afterwards having been
unable to break into the 61’s for the first time all weekend. “We’ll work on it though and see what we can establish for the second race.”

Neville meantime was pretty reflective on the penalty, but more than happy with his pace. “The car felt really good. After the drive-through I just concentrated on settling into a rhythm and trying to maintain a
constant pace.”

Initially expected to start off the second row for the reverse grid race, the Image/Kitome Racing duo were surprised to find themselves elevated to the front row after the front row starters pulled out pre-race.

A good start provided the perfect platform for the two blue Falcons to open a strong early lead. Fellow Falcon driver Shannon O’Brien soon closed in on Neville though, and to his great surprise found that he needed to use every trick in the book to stay in front of the Fujitsu
Series rookie, a strong passing move failing to eventuate after Neville fought back.

Eventually the young Queenslander made the move stick, but he was unable to easily shake the #48 Ford, nor make any inroads into Wyhoon’s lead.

Despite sticking with the leading pair, Neville was struggling with tyre wear, his left rear finally breaking traction under brakes into turn one on lap 13, spinning the Kitome director off the circuit. This dropped him back to ninth, although he would eventually recover for seventh after a final corner melee scattered the field on the run to the line.

Wyhoon though was able to withstand mounting pressure from O’Brien and round one runner-up Michael Caruso to take a strong win, despite a continuing lack of grip. “What a great result,” Wyhoon beamed afterwards. “I knew all I had to do was make sure the guys behind me couldn’t get a run on the restart, so I’d worked out my strategy and it came off. After two races the tyres are pretty much finished, but they were good enough to go the distance, I’m rapt.”

Neville too was pretty happy despite his off-track excursion.

“The pace was there. I could feel the tyre going off and even asked the guys to have a look on the way past to see if it was flat, it felt pretty bad. The car is quick, no question, if I hadn’t been caught up by that last corner incident which forced me to the grass, there’s no way that Luke (Youlden) would have got past me.”

Testament to Neville’s strong result was his fastest lap; 1:01.8781, his fastest of the weekend, and just half a second off the pace of the championship leader, and seventh fastest in the field…

Off positions 24 (Wyhoon) and 26 (Neville), the Image/Kitome Racing pilots had plenty of work to do in the final 30 lapper. Fitted with fresh rubber and a modified suspension setup, both were confident of finishing in the front half of the field.

A strong start saw both drivers immediately inside the top 20, before a mid-race pace car period after a engine failure by Kiwi Kayne Scott left a trail of oil through turn one, forced a group of cars into the outside sand trap. On the restart Wyhoon moved through to 14th, with
Neville a couple of positions further back. Shortly afterwards an ambitious overtaking move by series debutante David Sieders ended Wyhoon’s run, Sieders running into Wyhoon’s tail as he started to negotiate turn one, forcing the race two winner into a spin, and dropping him to the rear of the field.

Neville meanwhile was working his way through the field despite opening lap contact with Tim Monte at turn two, eventually classified 16th. “I’m sorry for Tim about the touch on the opening lap,” he said afterwards. “We were three wide going in, and I had nowhere to go. It was only a light touch, but enough to send him around, I’m going to go down there now and apologise.”

Wyhoon meanwhile gathered everything up to complete the final third of the race in 25th position, and was justifiably frustrated post-race. “We were running perfectly to plan, when I just got turned around. Okay, so that’s racing, but I went in really deep under brakes to try and get up the inside of O’Brien for 13th, so there was no way I’d braked early… the next thing I know I’m heading for the sand.”

Overall the two blue AU’s were classified 18th (Neville) and 23rd (Wyhoon) for the weekend, not a bad debut considering the misfortunes of race one, and the half points tabled for the reverse grid second race; all in a field of 37 cars.

“I suppose you could say we met our expectations considering the trials and tribulations of the weekend,” Wyhoon said post-event. “But we’re racers, we’re never happy until we win, and then we’re just focussed on continuing to win.

Having said that, at this level, against a field that was as close as this in qualifying, we’ve done a fantastic job, especially considering we came here with little data. We’ll go away and regroup, work on the data we’ve gathered and look to make another impression at the next event.”

Dean Neville too was reflective on the weekend’s result. “That was fantastic,” he beamed afterwards. “To achieve what we did with the opening race mistake, then my spin in race two, to end the weekend in this competition on debut right in the middle of the field without any real data, was a fantastic effort; I can’t wait for the next one…”

Race 1 (17 laps):
1. Adam Macrow BA Falcon
2. Luke Youlden BA Falcon
3. Shane Price VZ Commodore
4. Jack Perkins VZ Commodore
5. Wayne Wakefield AU Falcon

30. Dean Neville AU Falcon
31. Terry Wyhoon AU Falcon

Race 2 (17 laps):
1. Terry Wyhoon AU Falcon
2. Michael Caruso BA Falcon
3. Mark Porter VZ Commodore
4. Tony Evangelou BA Falcon
5. Aaron McGill AU Falcon

7. Dean Neville AU Falcon

Race 3 (30 laps):
1. Adam Macrow BA Falcon
2. Mark Porter VZ Commodore
3. Nathan Pretty VY Commodore
4. Luke Youlden BA Falcon
5. Shane Price VZ Commodore

16. Dean Neville AU Falcon
25. Terry Wyhoon AU Falcon

Kitome Pty Ltd
Proudly Australian owned, Kitome is a leading designer and manufacturer of quality kit homes, with manufacturing facilities in the three eastern states (NSW, VIC and QLD).